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The American Prospect - articles by authorenJoe Miller, Campaign Finance Reform Advocate?http://prospect.org/article/joe-miller-campaign-finance-reform-advocate-0
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Joe Miller is one of the most vocal crusaders against the <i>Citizens United</i> campaign-finance ruling, and he might not even realize it.</p>
<p>As the most conservative candidate in Alaska's Senate race, Miller hardly comes off as an anti-corporate poster boy. FreedomWorks and the Club for Growth have both endorsed him. He won the Republican primary against Sen. Lisa Murkowski (now running as a write-in candidate) thanks to the generous financial backing of the Tea Party Express. He has cast himself as pro-development choice, and he's talked about <a href="http://alaskadispatch.com/dispatches/politics/6595-joe-miller-wants-alaska-to-control-and-develop-federal-lands-including-denali-national-park">extracting</a> resources from Denali National Park. But when he's not lashing out against the federal government or <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/10/21/joe_miller_alaska_media">literally battling</a> the media, Miller is also articulating why unrestrained corporate spending during campaign season can be problematic. </p>
<p>About a month ago, a coalition of Alaska's Native corporations <a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/2010/alaskans-standing-together/">formed</a> a political action committee named Alaskans Standing Together (AST), announced their intention to take unlimited donations, and made Miller their target. Within a week, this Super PAC -- unencumbered by things like donor limits and capped spending, so long as it stays independent, thanks to new campaign-finance rules -- had dropped over half a million dollars on attack ads going after Miller. Miller, in turn, has filed a Federal Elections Commission complaint against the group and has begun using language that sounds, well, progressive. </p>
<p>"It's illegal," Miller says. "These groups that are pumping money into Alaskans Standing Together are federal contractors, and the federal law says that federal contractors with federal money cannot use the money they get from the government to try to influence a federal election. It's that simple." </p>
<p>Miller is referring to Alaska Native regional corporations. The corporations were established about 40 years ago to handle land and resources for Alaska Natives, and their subsidiaries are involved in everything from telecommunications to energy to hospitality. These subsidiaries have access to no-bid contracts from the federal government because of their <a href="http://www.adn.com/2010/10/21/1513607/congress-candidate-q-a-8a-federal.html">"economically disadvantaged" status</a>. The corporations and their subsidiaries have received <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/30/AR2010093004639.html">nearly</a> $30 billion in federal money over the past decade, meant to benefit almost 100,000 Native shareholders in the state. As the mission of these corporate entities is more to protect a population than to generate profit, the logic behind <i>Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission</i> applies in the most idealized way possible -- these corporations are intended to amplify marginalized voices. And for those with only partisan concerns, Native corporations -- like labor unions -- were supposed to provide a counterbalance to corporations like Exxon, Target, and Koch Industries that were expected to donate to free-market Republicans and conservative causes. But as Alaskans Standing Together demonstrates, it's not just a matter of which party or ideological worldview gains more. </p>
<p>In addition to the federal money question that Miller rails against, there are a number of murkier conflicts of interests created by the regional corporations' relationship with the incumbent Republican senator AST is backing. Lisa Murkowski's name appeared at the bottom of an FEC declaration form due to an <a href="http://www.alaskanewspapers.com/article.php?article=1042alaskans_standing_together_addresses_joe">"unfortunate clerical error,"</a> according to AST, a mistake that that the Miller campaign seized upon. Alaska Newspapers, a rural chain owned by Calista Corporation, ran an <a href="http://www.alaskanewspapers.com/article.php?article=1042murkowskis_experience_is_best_choice">endorsement</a> of Murkowski without disclosing that its parent company contributed to AST. Koahnic Broadcasting, a Native-owned nonprofit whose founding corporation contributes to AST, was <a href="http://www.anchoragepress.com/articles/2010/10/21/news/doc4cbf3d16e3a3a445439532.txt">called</a> out when its Anchorage public radio station ran an AST spot, despite having a policy against running campaign advertisements. </p>
<p>And then there's the awkward matter of the Alaska Federation of Natives convention. AFN is a statewide Native organization that predates the corporations but works closely with them. Last week, they held their annual convention, which brings thousands of delegates from across the state together to discuss issues like village survival and the inheritance of Native regional corporation shares (those born after 1971 do not automatically become shareholders). The AFN board had endorsed Murkowski prior to the convention, before delegates could approve of the measure. Then, the day before the convention, the board canceled the debate between Miller, Murkowski, and Democratic candidate Scott McAdams. Albert Kookesh, a co-chair of the AFN board who is also on the Native regional corporation Sealaska's board of directors and who serves as a state senator, <a href="http://community.adn.com/node/153856">told</a> the <i>Anchorage Daily News</i> that this was a "purely political move." Kookesh said that the board did not want to invite Miller after he "filed a complaint with FEC against us spending Native money the way we're spending Native money." Kookesh also added that the board did not see a point in opening the stage to the delegates given that they had already made their endorsements. </p>
<p>"We've had hostile candidates address the conventions in the past, and we've survived," says Nels Anderson Jr., a shareholder of the Bristol Bay Native Corporation. Anderson also served on the AFN board during the 1960s and 1970s, first as treasurer and then as chair. The combined actions of Alaskans Standing Together, the regional corporations, and AFN are not just hurting Miller and McAdams, he adds. Shareholders who don't agree with AST's election spending believe that their voice is being marginalized and that they're paying for that privilege. </p>
<p>"If the corporations are going to be engaging in this endorsement process, tribal governments and shareholders should be included, and they're not at this time," says Anderson. "I object strenuously to my shareholder money being used for political purposes without my knowledge and without my consent." </p>
<p>But is any of the activity being conducted by Alaskans Standing Together and the regional corporations illegal? Likely not. It replicates the same problems created by corporate involvement in the political process in the lower 48, in that interest groups drown out the voices of small donors. And in this case, some shareholders may feel left behind by corporations' political actions on top of that. Will Anderson, chair of Alaskans Standing Together and a member of the AFN board, maintains that what they're doing is acceptable under current campaign-finance law -- parent corporations are not affected by their subsidiaries' conflicts, and the group has been vigilant about any potentially "embarrassing issues." And he's likely right. "I'm sure the FEC decision will uphold that position," says Carl Shepro, a professor of political science at the University of Alaska-Anchorage. </p>
<p>What this all immediately means for Alaska's Senate contest is hard to say. Miller's FEC complaint likely will not be resolved by Tuesday, and it probably would not have much of an effect even if it were. According to a recent <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/44312.html">poll</a> (in, caveat, a state and a race that is notoriously difficult to poll), with 22 percent of the vote, Miller is trailing both Murkowski (34 percent) and McAdams (29 percent). Another <a href="http://community.adn.com/adn/node/153984">poll</a> released yesterday has him in second place, nearly 15 points behind Murkowski. While the AST ads can't be helping, Miller's drop in popularity is more likely attributable to a plague of small scandals -- a reporter in handcuffs, an ethics violation in his past, disclosure that he received the same entitlements that he shuns -- and a growing perception of him as an extreme candidate who won't bring money to Alaska. </p>
<p>If anything, jokes Nels Anderson, the AST campaign combined with the AFN debate cancellation may help McAdams more than hurt Miller. The Democratic candidate has had to spend hardly any money attacking his opponents, and his local Alaska Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood camps have stuck with him instead of endorsing Murkowski: "Maybe it's a blessing in disguise," says Anderson. And as for Murkowski, her seniority and position on the Indian Affairs Committee meant substantial Native support for her regardless. </p>
<p>But if the corporation's approach to this race is any indication for the future, Alaska's Native corporations will become an even more important player in future election cycles, and an expensive one to match. The official Native voice will only get louder -- and more monolithic. </p>
</div></div></div>Thu, 28 Oct 2010 22:20:12 +0000148967 at http://prospect.orgAlexandra GutierrezThe End of Palin as Kingmakerhttp://prospect.org/article/end-palin-kingmaker-0
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>In early May, Todd Palin showed up at Joe Miller's first major fundraiser as a Senate candidate. A month later, Sarah Palin endorsed the challenger to incumbent Lisa Murkowski in typical fashion, on Facebook. She called Miller a "Commonsense Constitutional Conservative" and praised his true Alaskan values. Palin also insinuated that Murkowski was a corrupt abortion-loving hippie, all after wondering why anyone would imagine there was "bad blood" between them.</p>
<p>A square-off between the state's former first family and the popular senior Alaskan senator should have seriously altered the dynamics of the primary race. That is, if anyone in Alaska cared. </p>
<p>As Sarah Palin works to become nearly ubiquitous in the Lower 48, many of her former supporters in Alaska are trying just as hard to forget her. Should Joe Miller lose the primary today, hardly anyone in Alaska will be surprised that Palin's chosen candidate did poorly. Palin's influence in the state started to slip when she agreed to be John McCain's running mate in August 2008, and it only eroded further when she resigned as governor last July. Now, Palin is mostly a reality TV personality in the very state she's always gushing about. <i>The Washington Post</i> may track her every endorsement, but this summer the <i>Anchorage Daily News</i> published more items on bears and caribou (45) than it did on Palin and her family (39). If Alaskans aren't paying attention to her, why should anybody else? </p>
<p>A Palin endorsement in Alaska mattered two years ago. Last election cycle, she backed then-Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell in the House race against Rep. Don Young, and he <a href="http://www.thenextright.com/matt-moon/ak-al-update-why-sean-parnell-lost">expected</a> to skate to victory on the support. The endorsement helped a great deal, but not enough: He was up by as much as 30 points over eternal incumbent Rep. Don Young in April, but he frittered away his lead by running an ineffectual campaign. Parnell continued on as lieutenant governor until Palin passed her office on to him last year. Now, he's up for re-election, and Palin hasn't given him her seal of approval despite her involvement in gubernatorial races in states like Wyoming, South Carolina, and Maryland. That's not because she isn't willing to help the campaign, though. </p>
<p>"Governor Palin has generously offered to help the Parnell campaign in any way, and we appreciate her support," wrote campaign manager Michelle Toohey in an e-mail. "Governors Parnell and Palin have always shared a common conservative philosophy, and as they are two different individuals, they each use their own style when it comes to governing." </p>
<p>Friendly distance was probably the right tack. Parnell is expected to breeze into re-election with <a href="http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/08/ak_gov_parnell.php">60 percent of the vote</a>. "I think that he probably might have viewed it as a courtesy not to have her push and promote him," says Stephen Taufen, a former Palin backer and a fisheries activist. "I'm glad that she stayed away from his entire campaign." </p>
<p>Bill Walker, another Republican candidate for governor, isn't seeking out Palin's support, either. </p>
<p>"He's focused on the future," says Taylor Bickford, Walker's campaign manager, when asked about Palin. Bickford adds that his candidate has not asked for an endorsement but that he is curious to see how other campaigns are handling Palin. </p>
<p>The Miller team, though, sees Palin's support as one of their most powerful weapons. "An endorsement from her is kind of like a <i>Good Housekeeping</i> seal of approval," says Randy DeSoto, his spokesperson. It put Miller "on the national map." </p>
<p>The endorsement did little to improve Joe Miller's standing in Alaska, though. Embarrassingly, Murkowski didn't even mention his name -- or Palin's -- in her <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/politics_nation/2010/06/palin_endorses_murkowskis_gop.html">response</a>. Palin's backing also didn't help Miller bridge the impossible funding chasm: Even with additional Tea Party promotion, he was able to pull together just $283,000 to try to compete with Lisa Murkowski's multimillion-dollar war chest. Most important, it didn't boost his popularity. One month ago, he was <a href="http://feeds.aprn.org/~r/aprn-news/~3/MMaF89S_7C0/">32 points</a> behind. This month, the only indication that he was closing the gap came from a suspect, untraceable <a href="http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/08/should-murkowksi-be-concerned">poll</a> sponsored by the Tea Party Express. </p>
<p>Palin herself isn't polling terribly well in the state these days. In her first year as governor, her approval rating hit 93 percent, according to Dittman Research. Now the same company is measuring her unfavorables at 52 percent, with almost a third of the state expressing strong dislike for Palin in April. A July poll by Ivan Moore reached similar conclusions. While Palin still has her base, Alaska is hardly Palin Land. </p>
<p>Rhonda Maker, for example, could be a model Mama Grizzly. She describes herself as an "Alaska business owner and mother of two." She lives in the southwestern town of Kodiak and worked in the fishing industry for over a decade before opening up a hostel. She believes in supporting female candidates, and like <a href="http://www.adn.com/2010/08/14/1409479/libertarians-gain-voters-dems.html">most Alaskans</a>, she doesn't have a party affiliation. When Palin ran for governor against Lisa's father, Frank Murkowski, in 2006, Maker was such a staunch supporter that she made Palin a pair of earrings -- red and black crystal dangles to match the candidate's wardrobe. Maker's feelings have changed. </p>
<p>"We don't all think that her using her clout in our state to make millions of dollars is a positive thing for Alaska," she adds. "And I do not like in any way, shape, or form, her acting like a representative for me or my state in any capacity. She doesn't represent me." </p>
<p>If she doesn't represent Alaska, it's become abundantly obvious that she doesn't represent the views of many other states, either. At the start of primary season, Palin had a bit of a run with her endorsements, often backing the clear favorite or the candidate with the most momentum. Now, her strategy seems to be shot. This August, all of her picks have thus far lost their primaries save for Tom Emmer, who was uncontested and who <a href="http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2010/election_2010_governor_elections/minnesota/election_2010_minnesota_governor">trails</a> behind the Democratic challenger he'll face in November. </p>
<p>In Washington state, Palin endorsee Clint Didier suffered a landslide defeat. In Wyoming and Georgia, Palin's backing didn't bring Rita Meyer or Karen Handel, respectively, over the edge. Over half of New Hampshire's voters are <a href="http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=07&amp;year=2010&amp;base_name=do_you_really_want_sarah_palin">less likely</a> to support a Palin-approved candidate, according to a study done by Public Policy Polling. Two weeks ago, Rep. Jack Kingston of Georgia suggested that she butt out of other states' affairs. </p>
<p>Today Miller could be added to that list of those embarrassments, and there may be some fretting about Sarah Palin's status as a GOP star. And perhaps -- just perhaps -- those fascinated by her will start to realize what many Alaskans have long figured out: These days, the former governor is more ringmaster than kingmaker. </p>
</div></div></div>Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:12:28 +0000148845 at http://prospect.orgAlexandra GutierrezAlaska's Provider In the Senatehttp://prospect.org/article/alaskas-provider-senate
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"></div></div></div>Tue, 10 Aug 2010 22:21:09 +0000148827 at http://prospect.orgAlexandra GutierrezAlaska's Peculiar Battle Over Abortionhttp://prospect.org/article/alaskas-peculiar-battle-over-abortion-0
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>On June 4, a 15-denomination coalition of Alaska's religious faithful gathered in prayer outside Gov. Sean Parnell's downtown Anchorage office. They were there to protest the governor's veto of a bill that would provide state funding for abortions.</p>
<p>"Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?" recited Pastor Lisa Smith of Central Lutheran Church, opening the service with passage from the book of Jeremiah. </p>
<p>Parnell's veto should have been popular, or at least uncontroversial, in a red state where the marquee initiative on the August ballot would potentially jail doctors who fail to notify parents of teenagers seeking abortions. But the funding wasn't just for abortion. Senate Bill 13 was an expansion of the Denali KidCare program, the state children's health insurance program (SCHIP) that covers low-income children and pregnant women. The outcry over what should have been a politically safe move points to the difficulty conservatives face when they pursue limits on abortion in state-funded health care. </p>
<p>Denali KidCare currently serves about 8,000 children, and SB 13 would have expanded coverage for 1,300 more by increasing the income threshold from 175 percent of the federal poverty line to 200 percent. Alaska is one of a handful of states that has yet to raise their SCHIP threshold, and it ranks an abysmal 48 out of 50 in children's health. If health care is a problem everywhere in the United States, it's especially so here, given the additional expense of providing service in remote areas. The bill was an easy fix to an obvious problem. It would allocate $2.9 million to covering those at the margins, with two-thirds of that money coming not from the state but from matching federal funds. The state legislature approved the measure overwhelmingly. </p>
<p>Because of a 1993 court order, Alaska is required to fund abortions determined medically necessary if it is to fund any health services at all. Only a fraction of a percent of Denali KidCare's funding goes toward abortion-related services -- in 2009, it was 0.18 percent. Every year, the state legislature tries to include language that excludes abortion funding. And every year, a fatigued Department of Law tells the legislature it can't do that. (The exhaustion is palpable in the 2008 budget review addressed to former governor Sarah Palin: "This year's budget, as did the past several years' budgets …" "As we opined before …" ) It shouldn't have surprised Parnell that Denali KidCare would be bound by this rule, especially since he worked on health-care legislation while in the State Senate and voted for Denali KidCare when it was first introduced. But the governor registered shock that this was the case. </p>
<p>"I want to be able to provide those services. But if your governor doesn't stand for life and liberty, as he understands it in his conscience, then you don't have a governor," Parnell said, explaining why he vetoed funding for KidCare. </p>
<p>He sounded remarkably like Rep. Bart Stupak during the throes of the health-care reform debate. An opportunity existed to improve health care for a huge swath of people, and the sticking point was mostly a worry that someone somewhere might get an abortion on the taxpayers' dime. </p>
<p>"There are certainly parallels with the fight over the Stupak amendment. The Stupak amendment was also trying to disavow the status quo. But in the Stupak case, we were talking about private funds," says Adam Sonfield of the Guttmacher Institute in Washington, D.C. "In this case, we're talking about state funds. If we take this to its logical conclusion, Parnell is saying that we shouldn't have the Denali KidCare program -- or a Medicaid program -- at all." </p>
<p>The other big difference is that Stupak eventually caved, accepting a White House concession on abortion instead of undermining a plan that would radically reduce the number of uninsured. Parnell actually spiked the funding in question. </p>
<p>"This type of move -- to say that we're going to cut, essentially, a broad-based health-care program -- is unprecedented. I can't think of any state that has done anything near this extreme because of abortion," says Sonfield. </p>
<p>While some state legislators are trying to organize an emergency session to override the veto, the president of the State Senate is hostile to the idea of calling a special session and doesn't think it's possible to get the necessary three-quarters of the chamber on board. The only thing KidCare's sponsors can really do is start over and wait for a new budget, and maybe a new governor. Parnell is up for reelection in the fall and his political opponents have called the veto a pander to social conservatives, particularly those in the lower 48 that might offer campaign funding. Two Democratic candidates for governor, Ethan Berkowitz and State Sen. Hollis French, have criticized Parnell's state-funded visit with evangelical Christian group Focus on the Family immediately following the veto. Bill Walker, a Republican challenger who has used his campaign to push for the parental notification initiative, also expressed skepticism about how the trip "furthers the interest of the state." </p>
<p> Alaska's two National Right to Life affiliates still have not met to formally discuss the KidCare funding veto, but Alaska Right to Life President Christie Eberhardt lays out her organization's stance in black and white terms -- repeatedly, with emphasis, and without mentioning KidCare. "We don't support any taxpayer money going to abortion." </p>
<p>But within the movement there is still some misgiving about the impact on KidCare. "It would be dishonest to say I have no concerns," says Paul Renschen, a member of Alaska Interior Right to Life. "It's a mixed decision. It does some harm as well as some good." </p>
<p>If opinion is fractured among Alaska's anti-abortion advocates, it is near monolithic outside the movement. State media has blasted Parnell. In language lifted straight from the Stupak debate, <i>Anchorage Daily News</i> columnist Elise Patkotak seethed, "So the conclusion one must draw about this veto is either the governor doesn't know what he's supporting when he supports it or, in a crass attempt to polish his credentials with the far right, he threw a bunch of low-income women and children under the proverbial bus." </p>
<p>The argument around the KidCare veto is familiar: How can the governor be pro-family and pro-life if he's willing to leave vulnerable children and pregnant women without the care doctors say they need? The reaction against the veto has also avoided treating abortion like some exotic procedure. KidCare supporters continually stress that this is about improving a broad-based program, and this broad-based program happens to provide abortions recommended by physicians as mandated by the law. "If he was truly motivated by an opposition to abortion, he would eliminate all of Denali KidCare" says Berkowitz. "Abortion under these circumstances is a health-care issue." </p>
<p>The anti-abortion movement consistently declares that it is on the side of children and mothers. But when abortion restriction comes in the context of hurting kids and hurting mothers, backlash is likely, even in conservative states. In the case of Denali KidCare, abortion seemed tangential -- irrelevant, even -- to providing much-needed health services to low-income children and pregnant women. It isn't. Maybe it won't take another state-level Stupak to remind people of this. </p>
</div></div></div>Thu, 10 Jun 2010 21:56:16 +0000148705 at http://prospect.orgAlexandra GutierrezThe Little Picture: Cleanup Continues.http://prospect.org/article/little-picture-cleanup-continues
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image"><a href="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100525.jpg"><img alt="lilpic100525.jpg" src="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100525-thumb-440x292.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="margin: 0pt auto 20px; text-align: center; display: block;" width="440" height="292" /></a></span></p>
<p>The Discoverer Enterprise burns gas from the Deepwater Horizon oil leak on May 17, 2010, in a process known as flaring. </p>
<p><em>(U.S. Coast Guard/<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/deepwaterhorizonresponse/">Petty Officer 3rd Class Patrick Kelley. </a>)</em></p>
</div></div></div>Tue, 25 May 2010 21:45:13 +0000203197 at http://prospect.orgAlexandra GutierrezWomen Fight for the Gulf Coast.http://prospect.org/article/women-fight-gulf-coast
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><strong>Monica Potts</strong> <em>learns more about coastal cleanup efforts:</em></p>
<p>In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, <strong>Sharon Hanshaw</strong> realized the women in her East Biloxi, Mississippi, community needed a political voice to counteract the big developers and casino owners who took the lead in reconstruction efforts. She helped found the group Coastal Women for Change and now serves as its executive director. Hanshaw and other East Biloxi women work to communicate with their local and national political representatives and keep the community informed on what it needs to know to rebuild.</p>
<p>While many homeowners and business owners still haven’t recovered nearly five years after the hurricane, the community is bracing for the full impact of the BP oil leak that’s spewing millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The oil will affect communities and fishermen throughout the Gulf region. TAP spoke with Hanshaw about how fishermen, restaurant workers, and landowners are dealing with the environmental tragedy and preparing for the upcoming hurricane season. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=women_fight_for_the_gulf_coast">KEEP READING …</a></p>
</div></div></div>Fri, 21 May 2010 22:09:18 +0000203159 at http://prospect.orgAlexandra GutierrezThe Little Picture: A State Dinner Without the Salahis.http://prospect.org/article/little-picture-state-dinner-without-salahis
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image"><a href="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100521.jpg"><img alt="lilpic100521.jpg" src="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100521-thumb-440x293.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0pt auto 20px;" height="293" width="440" /></a></span></p>
<p><strong>Barack </strong>and <strong>Michelle Obama</strong> joined Mexican President <strong>Felipe Calderón</strong> and his wife <strong>Margarita Zavala</strong> on a trolley ride to the State Dinner reception, held Wednesday. <strong>Beyoncé </strong><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/4625193652/">performed</a>, sans <b>Gaga</b>. </p>
<p><em>(White House/Pete Souza)</em></p>
</div></div></div>Fri, 21 May 2010 21:24:58 +0000203160 at http://prospect.orgAlexandra GutierrezThe Little Picture: Freedom Riders.http://prospect.org/article/little-picture-freedom-riders
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><img alt="freedomriders.jpg" src="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/2010/05/20/freedomriders-thumb-440x283.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0pt auto 20px;" height="283" width="440" /></p>
<p>Fifty years ago today, a white mob attacked a busload of freedom riders in Montgomery, Alabama. Yesterday, Tea Party Senate candidate <b>Rand Paul</b> said he <a href="http://prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=05&amp;year=2010&amp;base_name=rand_paul_and_the_hard_part_ab#comments">opposed</a> the provisions of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that barred businesses from discriminating against blacks -- a position he backed down from today.</p>
<p>(<i>Joseph Scherschel / Life Magazine</i>)</p>
</div></div></div>Thu, 20 May 2010 21:56:58 +0000203143 at http://prospect.orgAlexandra GutierrezThe Little Picture: Marja.http://prospect.org/article/little-picture-marja
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image"><a href="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100519.jpg"><img alt="lilpic100519.jpg" src="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100519-thumb-440x293.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0pt auto 20px;" height="293" width="440" /></a></span></p>
<p>In Marja, Afghanistan, Marine Col. <strong>Randy Newman </strong>provides a brief to the Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. <strong>George W. Casey Jr</strong>. Insurgents remain months after an offensive took place in the region.</p>
<p><em>(U.S. Army)</em></p>
</div></div></div>Wed, 19 May 2010 22:30:57 +0000203130 at http://prospect.orgAlexandra GutierrezThe Little Picture: Ciudad Juarez.http://prospect.org/article/little-picture-ciudad-juarez
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image"><a href="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100518.jpg"><img alt="lilpic100518.jpg" src="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100518-thumb-440x329.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0pt auto 20px;" height="329" width="440" /></a></span></p>
<p>Crosses in Ciudad Juárez memorialize victims of violence against women. Mexican President <strong>Felipe Calderon</strong> will be visiting the United States to discuss the drug war.</p>
<p><em>(Flickr/<a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/adrianmex/">Jacerdat</a>)</em></p>
</div></div></div>Tue, 18 May 2010 22:52:48 +0000203114 at http://prospect.orgAlexandra GutierrezThe Little Picture: The March to the Sea.http://prospect.org/article/little-picture-march-sea
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image"><a href="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100517.jpg"><img alt="lilpic100517.jpg" src="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100517-thumb-440x292.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0pt auto 20px;" height="292" width="440" /></a></span></p>
<p>A member of the Louisiana State Wildlife Response Team cleans oil off of a pelican in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, on May 15. The Clean Gulf Associates Mobile Wildlife Rehabilitation Station continues it work rescuing animals affected by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster.</p>
<p><em>(U.S. Navy and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/deepwaterhorizonresponse/">Deepwater Horizon Response</a>/Justin Stumberg)</em></p>
</div></div></div>Mon, 17 May 2010 21:11:00 +0000203098 at http://prospect.orgAlexandra GutierrezThe Little Picture: A Garden Stroll.http://prospect.org/article/little-picture-garden-stroll
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image"><a href="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100514.jpg"><img alt="lilpic100514.jpg" src="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100514-thumb-440x279.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0pt auto 20px;" height="279" width="440" /></a></span></p>
<p>Yesterday, Secretary of State <strong>Hillary Clinton</strong> and Afghan President <strong>Hamid Karzai</strong> took a <a href="http://www.zikkir.com/index/264140">tour</a> the gardens at Dumbarton Oaks, where the idea for the United Nations was developed. Roses were smelled; jokes were told.</p>
</div></div></div>Fri, 14 May 2010 22:15:40 +0000203084 at http://prospect.orgAlexandra GutierrezThe Little Picture: The Overseer.http://prospect.org/article/little-picture-overseer
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image"><a href="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100513.jpg"><img alt="lilpic100513.jpg" src="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100513-thumb-440x550.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0pt auto 20px;" height="550" width="440" /></a></span></p>
<p><strong>Elizabeth Warren</strong>, Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel, attends the <em>Time</em> 100 gala. The magazine has a particularly good <a href="http://www.time.com/time/pr/magcovers.html">cover</a> this month.</p>
</div></div></div>Thu, 13 May 2010 21:42:17 +0000203068 at http://prospect.orgAlexandra GutierrezThe Little Picture: Karzai's Come to Town.http://prospect.org/article/little-picture-karzais-come-town
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image"><a href="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100512.jpg"><img alt="lilpic100512.jpg" src="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100512-thumb-440x293.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0pt auto 20px;" height="293" width="440" /></a></span></p>
<p>Afghan President <strong>Hamid Karzai </strong>and Secretary of State<strong> Hillary Clinton </strong>met yesterday in Washington. <a href="http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=05&amp;year=2010&amp;base_name=two_views_of_afghanistan_">Intense</a>.</p>
<p><em>(ISAF/Chad J. McNeeley)</em></p>
</div></div></div>Wed, 12 May 2010 22:40:12 +0000203054 at http://prospect.orgAlexandra GutierrezThe Little Picture: Moving Forward on the Gulf Coast.http://prospect.org/article/little-picture-moving-forward-gulf-coast
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image"><a href="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100511.jpg"><img alt="lilpic100511.jpg" src="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100511-thumb-440x308.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0pt auto 20px;" height="308" width="440" /></a></span></p>
<p>Today, executives from BP and Transocean testified before Congress on the Gulf Coast oil leak. Cleanup and containment efforts are still underway.</p>
<p><i>(Flickr/<a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/uscgd8/">U.S. Coast Guard Eighth District External Affairs</a>)</i></p>
</div></div></div>Tue, 11 May 2010 22:18:38 +0000203036 at http://prospect.orgAlexandra GutierrezThe Little Picture: It's Kagan.http://prospect.org/article/little-picture-its-kagan
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image"><a href="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100510.jpg"><img alt="lilpic100510.jpg" src="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100510-thumb-440x355.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0pt auto 20px;" height="355" width="440" /></a></span></p>
<p>Solicitor General and Supreme Court nominee <strong>Elena Kagan</strong> sits with the late Justice <strong>Thurgood Marshall</strong>, for whom she clerked.</p>
</div></div></div>Mon, 10 May 2010 22:31:38 +0000203017 at http://prospect.orgAlexandra GutierrezThe Stark Reality of Defense Contracting.http://prospect.org/article/stark-reality-defense-contracting
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><strong>Robert Farley </strong><em>and </em><strong>Davida H. Isaacs</strong><em> get wonky on </em>Iron Man 2:</p>
<p>In <em>Iron Man 2</em>, billionaire industrialist Tony Stark (<strong>Robert Downey Jr.</strong>) risks billion-dollar pieces of equipment to impress guests at a birthday party -- a big mistake for a defense contractor. After all, Stark's reckless debauchery provides the perfect pretext for the <span class="caps">U.S. </span>government to take away his Iron Man suit. Explosions, tattoos, and<strong> Scarlett Johansson </strong>notwithstanding, the disputes between Tony Stark and his antagonists revolve around ownership of the rights to the Iron Man technology. <em>Iron Man 2 </em>is the most expensive movie ever made about an intellectual-property dispute.</p>
<p>Comic-book writer <strong>Stan Lee</strong> envisioned Iron Man as the quintessential figure of American capitalism, a member in good standing of the military-industrial complex who fought both the Viet Cong and the Soviet super-villain consortium Crimson Dynamo. If Lee's goal was to have Iron Man fight against a country that failed to recognize individual property rights, then <i>Iron Man 2</i> ironically achieves that. Because while Stark does battle with an angry Russian, the biggest threat to his intellectual property is piracy by the United States government. </p>
<p><a href="http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_stark_reality_of_defense_contracting"><span class="caps">KEEP READING</span> ...</a></p>
</div></div></div>Mon, 10 May 2010 21:04:47 +0000203012 at http://prospect.orgAlexandra GutierrezThe Little Picture: The White House and the Oil Mess.http://prospect.org/article/little-picture-white-house-and-oil-mess
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image"><a href="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100430.jpg"><img alt="lilpic100430.jpg" src="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100430-thumb-440x293.jpg" width="440" height="293" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;" /></a></span></p>
<p><strong>Barack Obama</strong> and Homeland Security Secretary <strong>Janet Napolitano</strong> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/">met</a> yesterday to discuss the Gulf Coast oil disaster. </p>
<p><em>(White House/Pete Souza)</em></p>
</div></div></div>Fri, 30 Apr 2010 21:14:15 +0000202903 at http://prospect.orgAlexandra GutierrezThe Little Picture: The "British Obama."http://prospect.org/article/little-picture-british-obama
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image"><a href="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100429.jpg"><img alt="lilpic100429.jpg" src="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100429-thumb-440x293.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0pt auto 20px;" height="293" width="440" /></a></span></p>
<p>Liberal Democrat leader <strong>Nick Clegg</strong> visits Watford to launch the 2010 General Election campaign, on April 6. The United Kingdom's general election will be held May 6.</p>
<p><em>(Fishnik/Alex Folkes)</em></p>
</div></div></div>Thu, 29 Apr 2010 22:31:58 +0000202890 at http://prospect.orgAlexandra GutierrezThe Little Picture: The Gulf Coast Oil Leak.http://prospect.org/article/little-picture-gulf-coast-oil-leak
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image"><a href="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100428.jpg"><img alt="lilpic100428.jpg" src="http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/lilpic100428-thumb-440x293.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0pt auto 20px;" height="293" width="440" /></a></span></p>
<p><a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=43768&amp;src=imgrss">... from space.</a></p>
<p><em>(NASA)</em></p>
</div></div></div>Wed, 28 Apr 2010 22:11:23 +0000202874 at http://prospect.orgAlexandra Gutierrez